You know that spring of joy when you look out the window and see rain? It’s hard to make sense of it. It’s almost visceral. Rain means happiness, that everything’s going to be alright, that this too will pass, that good things will happen. Whoever said “rainy is gloomy” watched too many Wimbledon matches. It’s like the rounded R’s that people mouth when they return from the US. It’s what we think we need to say. It’s not what we feel deep inside.

Rain always, always means happy things. We’ve got it down to a well-worn formula in life and in cinema. Rain means traffic, so we can be late. Rain means cheery rain songs on radio & hot crispy snacks in the canteen. Rain means cancelled classes and school holidays. In cinema rain means heroine introduction, rain means a happy dance, rain means romance, rain means an important twist or the climax. These are the clichés that we love and cherish.

I love the classic Milagai bajji – the entire chilli, seeds and all, dunked in bajji batter and fried to golden brown perfection. My nose may start running and I may appear to be weeping. But don’t take the plate away from me. It’s the kind of dare-devil things I like to do.

I long wanted to try a few other variants of the milagai bajji. One was a potato stuffed bajji that I thought might be a milder, just as tasty version for less adventurous souls. In this one, I make a slit and scrape out the seeds from within the chilli and stuff with spiced potatoes.

The third version is a mini milagai bajji bomb. If wolfing down an entire chilli seems forbidding, you can start with these mini milagai bajji bites. I cut up the chilli into little roundels and dunk in bajji batter and fry. These are like the bijli vedi (the little cigarette like single-shot deepavali cracker) – small and cute but still explosive.

Last Saturday, I woke up to a cool, drizzly, cloudy Chennai morning. I knew what I had to do. I strode to the kitchen and fried up milagai bajji, 3 different ways and served that for breakfast.

Let me also help you with a few bajji pairings. You might want to make a sharp ginger tea or cardamom tea to go with the classic milagai bajji. The coriander chutney is a great dip for this bajji. For the potato stuffed milagai bajji, tomato sauce is splendid. The mini milagai bajji bites are fun to just pop into the mouth as is. I imagine they’ll make a great side dish for sarakku (booze) parties too.

Don’t wait for the rains to make these bajjis. You can eat them anytime. Draw the curtain and play your favourite rain song if you want to replicate the experience. It’ll work just as well.

Let me know your favourite rain song and which bajji you like best! I’d love to hear.

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Print Recipe

Milagai bajji, 3 ways

These piping hot, throat-scorching bajjis are absolutely the best rainy day snack!

Mix together gram flour, rice flour and salt in a large bowl. Pour water little at a time and mix until it forms a thick, smooth bajji batter without lumps. Set aside.

To make the potato stuffing, transfer the boiled and mashed potatoes to a medium bowl. Heat oil in a small pan and add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Pour the hot spiced oil on top of the mashed potatoes and mix well so that the spices are fully incorporated into the potato mixture. Set aside.

If you’re making milagai bajji the classic way, you need do no chopping.
If you’re making the potato stuffed milagai bajjis, use a thin paring knife and make a lengthwise slit down the milagai and scrape out the seeds. Use a small spoon of the potato mixture and stuff into the milagai cavity. Add as many spoons of the potato mixture as the milagai can hold to stay in its original shape and size. Don’t overfill. Set aside. Prepare all the milagais this way.

If you’re making the mini milagai bajji bites, simply slice the milagai into ½ inch rounds.

Add about a ½ tsp of baking soda to the bajji batter and mix well.

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai. Pick a milagai, dip in bajji batter until it is fully coated with the bajji batter and drop in hot oil. Make sure that there is enough oil for the bajjis to be completely immersed in oil. Fry and flip around gently until all sides of the bajji are nicely browned. Use a slotted spoon to fish out the bajji. Repeat making bajjis with the rest of the milagai.

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Welcome to Foodbetterbegood!
I am Jayanthi. I love to cook. I am the one who lingers on at a function to have a word with the caterer to ask him for the vathal kuzhambu recipe. I amass recipes and I covet my knives.
I love a good story. I believe everyone does. If you love stories, if you love good food, you are at the right place.
You’ll see snatches of my writing, my DIY attempts and antique love in this space. You’ll see good food and simple recipes and plenty of stories. Foodbetterbegood is my diary.